Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who was first to synthesise LSD and the first to taste its awesome power, died in April last year at the grand age of 102. Twelve years earlier, I was fortunate enough to have dinner with the grand old man; we talked about many things, but his vision of the need for a new Eleusis for the 21st century shone out the most brightly. But what was Eleusis?

The site of the Eleusian temple is located 12 miles (19km) west of Athens, Greece, and was the focus of a Greek Mystery cult that lasted for nearly 2,000 years. It was situated around a cave, said to be the entrance of the underworld, where Persephone was taken after she was abducted. In myth, her mother, Demeter, wandered and grieved in the area now occupied by the temple and eventually persuaded Hermes to rescue her daughter. The first building of the temple proper was built at the site c.1500 B.C., and other buildings were added to the complex over the centuries. The mysteries themselves were a 10-day event, held every September and were open to almost anyone, except murderers. The climax was a procession from Athens to the temple for the Mystery Night, where the revelation of the mystery, the epopteia, was to take place. As the candidates for initiation made their way to the temple they imbibed a sacramental drink, the kykeon. They then went through various procedures until a final, and secret, revelatory event took place in a strange building known as the Telesterion. This was unlike any other structure found in ancient Greece in that it had a plain exterior. There has been much debate about the nature of the sacred drink, but by far the best theory states that it was a beer containing ergot, a parasite of rye that contains alkaloids from which LSD can be synthesised. The evidence for this is overwhelming, and is detailed in the new, revised edition of my book, The Long Trip – A Prehistory of Psychedelia (available from Amazon US and Amazon UK).

Many of the notable philosophers and intellectuals of ancient Greece, such as Plato, Aristotle and Sophocles, were initiated at Eleusis. A visionary, mind-altering initiation was therefore at the very roots of Western civilisation – an initiatory experience it has long-since abandoned. Hofmann felt that something like it needs to be re-established if Western culture is to save itself. Aldous Huxley envisaged such a renewed institution in his last novel, Island, but in reality we are still a long way from such a thing coming to pass. We are still arguing about cannabis, for goodness’ sake.

In 2008, British politicians re-categorised cannabis as a dangerous drug after a period of having it in a lower category. They ignored the advice of their own panel of experts and police chiefs who have been arguing for the legalisation of the drug. When pressed about this retrograde step, government spokesmen made the tired old demand that cannabis needs further testing to see if it is safe, along with promoting scare stories about it causing schizophrenia. Yet not only has the drug been tested for decades and found to be safer than many prescription drugs, tobacco or alcohol, the testimony of our forefathers confirms its spiritual and physical benefits. This latter fact was brought sharply into focus in November 2008, when it was announced that archaeologists had found a cache of cannabis in a Yanghai tomb in the Gobi Desert near Turpan in northwestern China. The cache consisted of 789 grams of dried cannabis contained in a leather basket and in a wooden bowl. It was c.2700 years old but had been preserved due to extremely dry conditions. While remnants of cannabis have been found elsewhere in the ancient world the helpful conditions in which this cache was found has allowed it to be the oldest so far that could be thoroughly tested for its properties. The research team found it to have a relatively high content of THC, the main active ingredient in cannabis. In the past, those sceptical of the mind-altering use of cannabis in prehistory have claimed (somewhat disingenuously) that it was only used for making ropes, fabric and so forth, but they can’t get away with that this time. This Chinese sample was clearly “cultivated for psychoactive purposes”, a paper in the peer-reviewed Journal of Experimental Botany states. "To our knowledge, these investigations provide the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent," wrote the paper's lead author, American neurologist Dr. Ethan B. Russo.

Perhaps the strangest aspect of this find is that the cannabis was uncovered in the tomb of a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, not an Asiatic person. He would have been a member of the somewhat curious Cheshi clan, a group of nomadic people of Indo-European origins who inhabited the region. The tomb also contained bridles, archery equipment and a harp, confirming the 45-year-old man's high status. The researchers assume he had been a shaman.

Another intriguing side issue regarding this case is that a British laboratory that monitors crop quality for producing Sativex (a cannabis-based medicine approved in Canada for relieving pain in conditions such as multiple sclerosis, certain cancers, and so forth) was used to conduct the tests on the cannabis find, but it took months to cut through the red tape hindering the entry of the sample into Britain from China – a perfect cameo of how eccentric our modern Western attitudes to mind-altering drugs are compared with our ancestors.

As long as decisions about visionary substances are made on the basis of ignorance or political expediency, the creation of a new Eleusis remains merely a dream. Bernd Debusman, a Reuters columnist, underlined such stupidity in a December 2008 column. He points out that the failed “war on drugs” has helped to turn the United States “into the country with the world’s largest prison population” (it has 25 percent of the world’s prisoners). This failed war “has helped spawn global criminal enterprises that use extreme violence”. Among other things, Debusman points out that it has been estimated that legalising and regulating drugs would inject a total of over 76 billion dollars into the U.S. economy alone. Perhaps with the global financial collapse governments would be wise to consider this…

Ignorance needs to be banished – “know drugs” rather than “no drugs”. Decision-makers ought to be able to differentiate between dangerous, addictive drugs and those visionary substances that are mind-enhancing. On the other hand, altering consciousness is no light matter, and shouldn’t be simply another form of careless, hedonistic consumption that predominates in the popular counter-culture – it needs the framework, discipline and knowledgeable guidance that an Eleusian-like system would bring to bear.

Another ignorant view held by our politicians and shared by the mainstream culture as a whole is that the altered mind states caused by visionary substances are somehow hallucinatory, sham experiences. It is hard to counter such a false perception by pointing out that enhanced consciousness cannot by definition be illusory when the collective mindset promulgating such a misperception is itself not sufficiently enhanced to know that it is mistaken.

A new Eleusis would let badly needed light reach into the gloom of our modern civilisation’s general state of consciousness. The fruits of this would be for us to know collectively, as a culture, that the nature of reality is much greater than we currently think we know. It would humble us; make us aware that we have read but the first few pages of the great book of nature. It would link us to vast realms of knowledge, and pull us back from our isolation outside the gates of Eden into the folds of a consciousness that communes with the biosphere as a whole, and perhaps even greater consciousnesses beyond. It would make our political decisions, whether regarding the environment, foreign relations, the economy, scientific endeavour or social structures more informed, more humane, more sustainable. Anthropologists have noted that in antiquity, the use of visionary plants has seemingly triggered the flowering of some civilisations – our own modern culture is in desperate need of such a new flowering, otherwise it will leave the stage. As I remark in The Long Trip, if this proves to be the case, then the Earth, in the ages that belong to it alone, will surely birth a new species more capable of continuing the great adventure of consciousness.

Addiction to mechanistic spirituality is a fixed characteristic of those unable to reach the higher realms. Yes, demonic spiritual phenomena do happen, and they can be Ho Hum, rather impressive.
Use of any drugs, crystals, fetishes, etc always hinders, never helps the natural denizents of higher realms. Why? Because the naturals need no material assistance whatever,to go home. They just say, I Am Home. They carry no baggage.
If for example, you think absolutely, that you need LSD, to get into a cool spiritual state, then, I promise you are trapped in lower realms, and will have an arduous, and lengthy time rising above them. You are missing an awful lot of good stuff, and I should not even be telling you. MIkey.

Unfortunately, for Mikey's benefit, our culture has largely lost any contemplative tradition where the environment is conducive to self-realization. Instead, we live in a world that is tortured with extreme EM and noise pollution, behavioral stress, and cultural conflict. The love of violence is celebrated in public entertainments, and the relentless delusory denial of consciousness that is scientific materialism has poisoned the earth with unnatural toxins while the overpopulation of humans is causing a mass extinction event. The perspective provided by a chemical shock to awaken a spirit from numbness amid these external conditions may create a window to awareness of other possible states of being. I agree wholeheartedly, however, that once the tool has served the purpose, only clear headed focus will stabilize and sustain the presence.

Well said! I couldn't agree with you more about noise pollution! It has become some commonplace to inundated with needless information that most people can't even hear it anymore! I would not have know about Mike if I hadn't found this post, but reading his story has made me hopeful for the future. It is possible to live without noise pollution in an environment that is cleansed of worldly obsession.

Thanks for sharing this:
"I agree wholeheartedly, however, that once the tool has served the purpose, only clear headed focus will stabilize and sustain the presence."

Crystals are in a sense "toys" which can so alter the biological vibrational state as to create novel orientations, but really their main lesson is that the entire material environment is doing that to us all the time. Crystals are simply intense nodes or concentrated expressions of that condition. Once that realization of material interaction is experienced the human mind understands that attempting to isolate or insulate itself from the material environment is futile. One then has learned to be more aware of how the material environment influences and biases physical being. Furthermore, it reveals how much spiritual being as well is a phenomenon of vibration and that one is never wholly independant of the material because there is always something that must be vibrated. Calling it the "aether" is not calling it non-material.

If you find that crystals ground your mind though give relativity a go! After the headache caused by grasping time dilation you come to realise there is no escape from our dimensional fabric so long as we're still bound as a pattern in matter.

I'm definitely with you on "aether" not being non-material. However, obviously ether was a funny idea. They only came up with it because they knew sound waves transmitted through a substance and thought light must do the same. Einstein disproved it.

A more suitable metaphor for a universal background material to vibrate might be the quantum foam or quantum vacuum. This would tie in with language used in describing quantum consciousness better as well. The word aether is a little outdated nowerdays.

One thing i took from arriving in the middle of it was the affect of none of them having any education in the subjects they were talking about. Much like me having a conversation about art history or gardening. I would speak complete nonsense and guesswork.

I came to realise that much conversation can be understood in the context of people enjoying chatting about things they don't understand. It was quite interesting really. The geological conclusions they were arriving at without knowledge. They were quite 'out there' as you would say.

Very few people can talk about the use of these drugs to put is in contact with expanded consciousness.

You cant got to university in the UK without encountering a good amount of drugs. Obviously cannabis is on the cards, but that was at college too. New wonders arrive in ecstasy, LSD, amphetamines and cocaine.

Ive only tried a couple of these myself, but obviously they are enjoyable. My generation is always being accused of taking too many drugs so i doubt there is lack of experience. Certainly LSD was quite available.

I almost wish i had the opportunity now, but i have children so don't think it would be setting too good an example. Even my last hangover lasted 3 days.

They just need to put them in cakes, then at least ingesting them is nicer.

A new Eleusis would appeal to the imagination of the modern aspect of a soul who once peopled the ancient world -- and Greece in particular -- with physical expressions.

Even I can feel such an appeal, but our world is already even past the days of the psychedelic bus, to mention a modern version of the familiar ancient tales of the voyages of heroes, an integral part of the world of Eleusis (part of the backdrop, you might say).

There's also the fact that obscure events can sometimes have powerful, delayed, and completely unexpected aftereffects, especially at the moment, with the world-girdling Internet serving as an excellent symbol for a major transition in consciousness (for those who choose to experience it) even while engendering the possibility of such obscure events becoming magnified and suddenly brought to public attention in a major way, changing beliefs.

Possibly, major myths of the ancient world began in a similar -- although non-electronic and much more localized -- way.

As for psychoactive substances -- these can be fun but there's really no need for any of them; the most fantastic experiences can be created without them.

I often tell people that I am a "druggy" except that I get drugs endogenously by tweaking my vibrational locality with crystals. There are yogic ways to do it without props, but the end result is the same - one has altered the endogenous chemical make up of the brain to get the state you desire. Some people tell me I don't need these props, but I am weak I guess. Additionally, there is a domain of spirit within rocks that is most interesting to access by fondling.